The Real Hero
by Jmtx100
Summary: After all the adventures in Kalos, Ash finds Serena and himself back in Kanto, accidentally shedding a new light on his family's past. Unfortunately, to get the right answers Ash makes a decision that is going to change everything in his life. Did he make a terrible mistake? Or did he do the right thing? What is behind his family's name?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! Jmtx100 here and I'm finally back with a new project I came up with!**

 **The backstory behind it is short. I completely hate the Sun and Moon anime right now, I am furious the didn't try to make any kind of continuation of the XY &Z series! You may have different opinions on the new art style, but the cringe comedy is killing me! So I wanted to make something, that in my opinion would be worth calling a continuation to the Kalos Arc. I tried my best not to make any mistakes. If you got here because of my other story Rising To The Top (by the way if you didn't read it, I suggest you also do) this story is kind of similar, but it will not an Ash betrayed story, that's for sure. Still, I kept in the good old style of mine. So I will try to keep posting new chapters regular. It will depend on how long will the chapters be, but I'll try to make all of them equal. So enough talking, let's get right into the action!**

 **Disclaimer: Jmtx100 doesn't own Pokemon. Only the plot of this story is rightfully mine.**

 **(Warning: This story does not follow the ending of the XY &Z anime)**

* * *

A young boy who was wearing the same blue collared shirt with short sleeves, dark blue jeans, red and white hat and red high top sneakers, ran down the Route 1. It was indeed sixteen year old Ash Ketchum with his faithful partner Pikachu on his shoulder. Yes, they have just completed their journey through Kalos, fresh from the Kalos League in Lumiose City and were on their way back to Pallet Town. It was a rather exciting adventure, full of amazing adventures and plot twists. But Ash wanted to get back to Kanto, meet his mom and friends, so he could get some rest and especially get a certain Kalos League match off his mind…

 _Flashback_

" _Greninja I choose you!" Ash yelled._

" _Charizard let's go!" Alain furiously threw his pokeball containing his fire-type monster, releasing him for the final stand._

" _Here comes Charizard! Both Ash and Alain have only one pokemon left. It's the ending of this extraordinary battle in the Kalos League finals! Charizard versus Greninja!" the announcer yelled across the stadium._

Ugh… Ash didn't want to even get to the finish of this match. In fact, he never wanted to come back to this memory. At least for some time. It was constantly bragging him, coming back to his head whenever it wanted. Ash felt like shit after the finals. However, he didn't get to think about it lots, because of the whole Team Flare attack. It kept him from snapping until a few days ago, when everything got quieter and Ash decided it's time to head back to Kanto. Now it was like a nightmare during daytime. All of his Kalos companions complained about him constantly spacing out, but they never knew Ash was still overthinking the Kalos League finals. It was getting worse every second. Ash knew the only thing that could let him cool down is the familiar scent of Pallet Town, so he stopped by to admire the view. He could have sworn it was nothing surprising really to the majority of people who would come across here and they never would think it could be somehow special. However, this was not the case for Ash Ketchum. It was _the_ view of Pallet Town which he was always happy to see. As cliché as it sounds, that was one of the things Ash missed the most during every single adventure of his. Every single time.

"There is no place like Pallet Town, right Pikachu?" Ash asked his best buddy.

"~Pika" Pikachu happily answered jumping off the boy's shoulder and breathing in the familiar air. Ash did the same, breathed in the familiar, cold, fresh air that is always running through Pallet Town. Just like Pikachu.

"Pallet Town…" Ash dreamingly, with a lot of things on his mind "The place everything started. The place from where we set off our greatest journey… Can you actually believe it Pikachu? It's been six years since we started… six years" ( **An** : In my story Ash isn't ten anymore, he ages normally)

"~Chaaaaa!" Pikachu squealed in response, agreeing with his trainer.

"AAASH!" someone shouted from behind, which made Ash flinch at first as it seemed that he completely forgot about the person behind him. As Ash turned around he saw a girl, a few inches lower than him, who was wearing a red and pink fedora, a bright pink dress with a white collar, gray top underneath and a red waistcoat, dark stockings and brown boots. It was all completed with a blue ribbon on her chest, pinned to her dress. It's _the_ ribbon Ash gave to _her_ during their journey through Kalos. It was indeed Serena.

"You know I don't like when you run off like that" she complained staring at Ash resentfully "I feel like you completely forget about me. You made me walk like a kilometer alone…" she trailed off.

"I'm so sorry Serena. It's just I just love coming back to this place so much…" Ash went silent for a second to think before he said anything more "that for a second I forgot you were there with me, actually" Ash rubbed his back while trying to convince Serena into believing this. But she was still standing there, looking angrily while resting her hands on her hips.

"Look, I'm kinda new to this situation. No one has ever came with me to Pallet Town before, so it's new to me. But I know I should be more careful and everything…" Ash apologized, because he really shouldn't have left Serena like that. Especially since _he_ was the one who invited here, asked her to come to Pallet Town with him.

* * *

 _Flashback_

" _I can't believe we won't be travelling together anymore" Ash said visibly depressed. Serena and him were sitting on a bench, after they said their goodbyes with Clemont and Bonnie and their pokemon. Currently Ash was looking down, while Serena gently moved closer to him rested her head on Ash's shoulder._

" _Ash, nothing's gonna last forever. Clemont and Bonnie needed to get back to the gym remember? Lumiouse is their home after all…" Serena tried to make things more positive, but goodbyes are usually sad. And this particular was even more depressing since 'our heroes' had such a good time travelling together._

" _You're right. But still, I think I'm gonna miss Kalos the most out of all the places I've been to. I'll make sure to stop by, when Bonnie turns ten" Ash said lowering his head even more. He bonded with Clemont and Bonnie so much he wanted to travel with them forever. Actually, Ash had bonded with all of his travelling companions. Yet he still felt this time it was so much different than with Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn and even Iris and Cilan._

" _So Ash, what time does your plane take off?" Ash glanced at the clock, hanging inside of the airport,_

" _We still have a few minutes before I leave" Ash said and Serena sighed. At first she was happy that she decided to go to Hoenn out of all the places. But now, she was having second thoughts. Maybe she wanted to keep travelling with Ash? Maybe without him, she won't be able to make such great performances? And most important of all, if Ash leaves, will she ever get a chance to tell him how she feels about him?_

" _Hey Serena?" Ash looked at Serena carefully, which she then returned. Their eyes locked in a very emotional moment for both her and the boy. However, Serena wasn't sure if he felt the same she felt at this exact moment. "What's wrong?" Ash asked politely._

" _Nothing" Serena said back, looking away blushing a little. She did not really know what to say. A few days before she promised herself to finally speak to Ash about her feelings, but now, she thought otherwise. She felt like she wasn't ready yet._

" _Serena if something's wrong, just tell me. Hey I don't want to leave youhere if you'll be constantly in such mood" Ash smiled and Serena only thought about how lucky she is to have her dream guy right by her side and how big of a coward she is by letting him go and not finally revealing what she has hidden from him all his journey._

" _Serena?" Ash asked once again._

 _Serena sighed " I'm not sure Ash. There won't be any showcases for quite some time, I don't have anything to do really, I wish we could have just traveled a little more together…" Serena broke the silence._

 _Surprisingly, Ash didn't give her an emotional, motivation speech, but only quietly sighed. Serena noticed it right away, as she always observed Ash closely._

" _Come on Ash, if something is bugging you now, you can tell me as well" Serena tilted her head, while he was looking a bit puzzled, like he was not exactly sure what to say._

" _You know I thought maybe… maybe you would rather come with me to Kanto. You know, so you can revisit the place we met" Ash trailed off, but it really surprised Serena. She never thought Ash was going to ask. Of course Serena wanted to go with him, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable, constantly following him. So she didn't really think that was going to happen._

" _You know Ash, I always wanted to go back to Kanto sometime" Serena said without any hesitation._

" _So you wanna come along?" Ash brightened up, as he heard Serena is willing to go to Kanto with him._

" _Yeah, why not? I might as well prepare some new performances in Kanto, right?" Serena asked, although she knew the answer already._

" _Alright! Then I'm gonna buy you a ticket right away!" with that Ash stormed off to buy an extra ticket for Serena. Serena, on the other hand followed him with her eyes and when Ash disappeared in the distance, Serena smiled triumphantly, like she became the Kalos Queen, which she obviously didn't. But it counted as a success for her as well. She knew Kanto was the place she was going to tell Ash how she feels._

* * *

 **Unfortunately, we have to stop here. But I think it was good enough for a pilot and it deserves to start this hopefully epic story. I know it may be a little short, but this time I preferred to it split up. That way, I'll be sure to update sooner, because I don't give myself a minimum amount of words I need to put in a chapter. But you're the readers, so please share your opinion with me using the 'Review' button!**

 **Well, that's all for now, keep an eye out for the upcoming updates! See you in the next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back with the second chapter, so let's get to it!**

 **Disclaimer: It needs to be done anyway, so… I don't own Pokemon!**

* * *

"Okay now I'm really starting to worry" Serena frowned as she turned Ash's attention back to her.

"W-what? I-Is there something on my face?" Ash asked her, as he realized he wasn't listening to her for at least few minutes.

"You've spaced out again Ash. You're really creeping me out" she explained her reaction few seconds earlier, looking at Ash like he was some kind of new, weird looking pokemon. At the same second Ash caught a glance of something bright between the trees. Ash shook his head like he was seriously trying to focus. It looked to him like there was someone observing them and leaning on a tree nearby, but after a second, he was gone. Ash rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He could have sworn there was someone standing there!

"Ash!" Serena shook Ash's arm.

"Huh? Oh sorry, it's just… ugh… forget it" Ash explained, but at the same time he made a mental note to himself about this weird situation " _I guess my eyes must have fooled me this time_ " Ash thought. Serena let out a shy giggle.

"What?" Ash asked her with an annoying tone. Then he glanced over to Pikachu who was laughing a bit as well. In his own pokemon way, of course.

"It's nothing. I just think that it doesn't suit you" Serena's giggle turned more into a laugh now.

"What do you mean?" Ash still didn't have a clue what was Serena trying to say. Although when she and Pikachu started to laugh, Ash automatically grinned as well.

"I mean behaving like that doesn't really match you, silly" Serena was still laughing at him "Because I swear every third sentence you say ' _Pikachu, Thunderbolt!_ ' or something like that" Serena's impression was rather comedic. But it let Ash understanding her statement, but only a tiny bit. Then again, Ash was asking himself " _Does she really think of me like that?_ "

"I do not sound like that Serena!" Ash crossed my arms in disbelief and tried to defend himself.

"Oh yes you do! Don't deny it!" Serena pushed Ash back lightly and giggled even more.

Ash looked over to Pikachu who was now laying on the ground, rolling around and laughing "O-okay m-maybe I say it often, but it's because of Team Rocket! And it's not every third sentence!" Ash desperately tried to defend himself and but Serena was right- he usually talked only about Pokemon.

"Yeah, you're right…" Serena seemed a little bit apologetic at first, but quickly her expression changed "More like every second sentence! You know, with few breaks for ' _I'm hungry_ ' and some stomach grumbles in the meantime!" she laughed hard as she turned around and started running in the direction of Pallet Town "Race you Ash!" she yelled, as Ash shook it off, he found out that she was already far away from the point Ash was at.

"Hey, you don't even know where to go in the first place!" he yelled to her trying to catch up.

"I'll manage!" she turned her head and stuck her tongue out while running away from Ash. Pikachu also ran down the road, so the boy started sprinting as fast as he possibly could. All of the conversations with Serena earlier today made him think " _Serena acts different today. During our time in Kalos she seemed more… how I should put it… more formal? She always looked like she cared what she was saying, trying not to say something she would regret. And now, she seems more relaxed, cool about everything. I really think that I did the right thing asking her to come with me_ " But Ash soon stopped overthinking, as he saw Serena getting further away from him, rather than him catching up with her. So he went straight back to running. He couldn't possibly lose a race to a girl, could he?

* * *

"So… I won" Ash huffed triumphantly and lifted his hands up like a winner, when he overtook Serena right before they got into Pallet Town.

"Not fair…" Serena quietly responded, with a little bit of jealousy in her voice.

"Hey you already had a huge advantage at the start. You took me off guard!" Ash told her, as they arrived in front of his house. "Well, that's my home" Ash pointed at the house with his index finger.

"Awww… your home is so cute!" Serena happily exclaimed with those heart-shaped anime eyes. Ash looked again at his house and didn't find anything cute about it. Just plain white walls and the roof made of red roof tiles.

"You didn't even see the inside, and you're already saying it's cute?" Ash asked, not really understanding her logic.

" _Because everything that's connected to you is cute"_ Serena was about to say that, but in the last second she bit her lip and quickly thought of something else "I mean… from the outside, it looks so nice and cozy…" she corrected herself, and to her relief Ash bought it, telling himself it's probably some girl-thing. So without any more hesitation he went up to the door and opened it, inviting Serena inside.

" _Phew… That was close. Serena get a hold of yourself! You were hiding your crush for nearly a year now, while traveling with Ash and now you can't wait a bit longer?!_ " Serena told herself. She wanted to wait for a good opportunity to confess to Ash…

* * *

 **I know this chapter is super short, but I wanted to upload as soon as possible and with Christmas going on I just didn't get enough time to finish more. But I promise I'll upload more in next couple of days!**

 **Oh, and by the way, Merry Christmas! See you in the next chapter!**

 **~Jmtx100**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone and welcome to the third chapter of The Real Hero. Before we start I want to address one important matter. I really want to get some feedback on this story and I'd be glad if you reviewed this chapter. I already got some messages telling me what should I do, but I won't lie, it's a bit disappointing when you see a lot of views on this story, but actually no reviews!**

 **But now I stop whining and I proudly present to you the newest chapter of this fic!**

 **Disclaimer: Do I seriously need to say that everytime?... I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

 **Flashback, The Ketchum Residence -6 years ago-**

" _Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, phone call, phone call!"_ the telephone rang at the house of Delia Ketchum.

"I wonder…" Delia walked to the phone and accepted the call. "Hello, this is the Ketchum residence!" she answered.

" _Hey sweetie"_ Delia nearly jumped in surprise after hearing this low hoarsed voice finally talking to her. She would recognize it anywhere. A second later, on her screen appeared a man. Half of his face was covered with a red scarf up to his nose, and he wearing a dark cloak.

"Honey! Are you okay? Where are you?" Delia asked worryingly.

" _I'm… I'm nearby. So I figured it was finally time to call you_ " he smiled. Delia released a few tears of happiness, which she quickly wiped away, but still this moment was very emotional for her.

"It's such a relief honey. You know you didn't call last month right? I thought you were dead!" Delia pointed out.

" _I know, I'm sorry. Everything has been going wild lately, and I was never around a phone booth. But I'll make it up for you"_ he scratched his head.

" _Red_ , you know there is nothing more important to me than you and Ash. The thing I want the most right now is you finally coming back" Delia sniffed, as the emotions started taking the upper hand either way.

"Look _Delia, I've already told you before. There is nothing I'd rather do than come back to Pallet Town. But there is no one else that could take this mission over from me. Everything is heating up pretty badly. Especially after what happened to Blue. We're the last ones here_ " Red clenched his fists and sighed. He was telling the truth. Every night he would dream of peacefully coming back home to his wife and son. Speaking of which…" _How's Ash doing?"_ Red asked carefully.

"He left today. Late, because he overslept as always, but he eventually got to Samuel's place and started his journey" Delia described. Red was all this time looking at his wife in the camera. Then he quickly turned around, as if he heard something or someone behind him. After a second he threw a glare back at the screen " _I have to go now"_ he exclaimed with a dark tone.

" _Red_!" Delia shouted, trying to get his attention before her husband hangs up "before you go, may I tell Ash about you?" she begged, sniffing.

" _Delia, we talked about it a million times…"_

"I know but please… for the sake of Ash. He deserves to know you didn't leave him" she pleased once more.

" _Ehhh… I'll figure something out, But don't do anything without letting me know. I don't want him to look for me instead. So stay out of this… for now, okay?"_ Delia sniffed once more and nodded.

"Just… please be safe honey" Delia said once more.

" _I will Delia… I will_ " and the call ended. Hearing the voice of her husband once again, made Delia really happy. She knew there was no way, they were going to meet, but still, it was a relief knowing that he is still alive. She turned around and walked back to the kitchen, and when she was about to start preparing the dinner-

" _Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, phone call, phone call!"_ the telephone rang once again.

"Now, I'm starting to regret I set the ringtone to such annoying one" Delia walked over to the phone once again. "Hello, this is the Ketchum residence!" she answered just like before.

" _Hello mom"_ replied the voice in the telephone. After a few seconds, on the screen appeared none other than ten year old Ash Ketchum, who only started his journey.

Delia gasped and quickly grabbed the handset "Hi honey! Is everything okay?" she asked her son. After a second she added "Where are you Ash?" remembering, that her husband has just called.

" _The pokemon center in Viridian City_ " Ash answered without showing any emotions.

"You're already in Viridian City?!" Delia was surprised her son has already passed such a long distance "it took your father four days to get there, when he started pokemon training!" she revealed "Oh, he will be so proud, you're the apple of his eye!" she smiled honestly.

" _Yeah… a rotten apple_ " Ash saddened.

"Oh Ash, if you knew the truth…" she thought, but didn't speak that loud. "Oh Ash, don't get discouraged, you're doing fine!" she tried to cheer him up, but he was visibly breaking down a bit. Ash was still looking like he was depressed.

"Ash be more confident! You can do anything that you set your mind to! Do you understand?" Ash's mom stated trying to cheer him up once again.

" _Y-yes_ " Ash answered depressingly.

"And are you changing your underwear every day?" she asked once more.

" _Yes_ " Ash repeated this time with less sadness and more annoyance.

"Okay, good night sweetie, I love you!" she waved to the camera, to which Ash responded "Me too mom, bye" and he hung up. Delia stood up, and looked a bit to the left of the table. There was a family photo laying there, as a reminder of what she knew as a family. Delia picked the photo, which showed her and her husband, right beside a baby cot, with little Ash inside of it. Looking at it for a minute or two, made Delia shed a few tear, which she quickly wiped away. " _One day you'll understand Ash, one day…_ "

 **Cerulean City**

" _Just… please be safe honey_ "

"I will Delia, I will…" he hung up on the phone. Turning back, he sighed, as he was home sick like never before. His son was starting his own journey and he couldn't see that. But the risk was too much. He didn't want to put the lives of the people he cared about on the line. It would only bring trouble. Yet still he wanted it really bad.

"You're finished?" a voice behind of Red asked.

"Yeah, unfortunately" he answered. "I sometimes think you're actually lucky you don't have a family to think about _Ethan_ " he continued. The person revealed as Ethan, looked at his friend, puzzled.

"Am I really lucky Red? Am I?" he crossed his arms in disbelief. "You know, if we didn't spend so much time together, I would actually think you have some sort of a mental breakdown" Ethan put his hand onto red's arm, in a friendly gesture.

"I guess we should call it a night then" Red sighed taking one of his pokeballs, and releasing a pokemon out of it.

"~Charizard!" the pokemon exclaimed as it was released. Red only smirked thinking about what starter had his son picked at the start of his journey. Maybe a Charizard like his old man? Or a Squirtle? Or maybe he went absolute crazy and chose Bulbasaur?

"Charizard, let's fly back" Red ordered as he and Ethan jumped onto his Charizard's back and took off.

* * *

 **I guess that's the end for now. As always, I want all of you to review, because it does encourage me to write more in shorter amount of time!**

 **The conversation between Ash and his mom is actually the original they had back in the second episode of the pokemon anime. It just nicely fits into my story!**

 **If I made any mistakes, please tell me, so I can correct them. I'm also open to constructive criticism of yours, so I can see if the story is doing well or not. In my honest opinion, this chapter was really good and mysterious, or at least that's what I aimed for. But maybe that's just me.**

 **I think that's all I have to say, so see you in the next chapter!**


End file.
